Bloomberg
February 21, 2012
Another president, another bailout. The resignation of a German president seems to be a harbinger of Greek fortunes.
Not even a week has passed since Christian Wulff announced his resignation as German president, and now Greece has received a second bailout, this time worth 130 billion euros ($173 billion). The Hellenic Republic was awarded its first rescue package of 110 billion euros in May 2010, just weeks after Horst Koehler resigned the German presidency.
While there's no causal link between the two events, they serve as a reminder of the political wrangling that hampers the euro area's transition to a supranational entity and the plight of the region's weaker members. Chancellor Angela Merkel was forced to drop her opposition to the nomination of Joachim Gauck as the next German president when it became clear that her Free Democratic Party partners in the coalition government weren't going to back her. The FDP's support for Gauck threatened to destabilize the government and will surely cause a lasting rift during the Merkel administration's remaining time in office.
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